C32: Offense and New Title
Word count = 2283 on 2/4/2024
Apollo approaches the lesser gods of Orario and Immortals group near the back of the party, more specifically towards Raikou. He places his hand on his chest and gives an elegant bow as he proclaims. "My, what joy it is for such a beautiful being to come to my party. It is as if Freya herself chose to participate in this celebration." he compliments Raikou in a flirting manner which inspires Axel to deliver a haymaker to the gods balls and see if they are made of steel. Regardless, they would explode.
Raikou places her hand on her cheek and puffs up her chest as she says the dreaded phrase, "Ara Ara, Thank you for the compliment of your lordship Apollo. Though I am a bit upset that you would think of other women when complimenting another. Makes people feel that you have high aspirations."
The 'ara ara' inflicts a shudder on Senji and Shuten Douji as they are both familiar with Raikou's personality unlike Kaoruko who knows of Raikou's legends but has very little interaction with her until she proposed to help raise Axel. That was the start of their interaction but even still, they don't spend much time together so Kaoruko is unaware of the ... .implication related to her saying that phrase.
Most of the ambient male audience gulp upon seeing the slight lift in Raikou's chest while Apollo himself is also stuck looking at them and completely ignores her words until he is finally able to get a grip as he continues trying to have the conversation, "It is simply a compliment, bestowing the recognition that a…mortal has beauty comparable to a goddess well known for it."
"Oh? A mortal am I? Then I'm sorry, you are not much of a god yourself. How many minor gods had been attacked by you before they had to relinquish their children due to your own perverted mind desiring them like a lascivious pig." She quickly drops the pretenses as she is not one to enjoy verbal spars. Apollo on the other hand quickly frowns and loses his lust for Raikou as he can tell that Raikou had done some of her research on his familias past.
"I know not what you may be thinking is the case but I am simply punishing those who offend and attack my familia members. Something I'm sure you are aware of that your own child did. 4 of my children were attacked by yours with one of them even badly injured with a broken arm while others were beaten up." He snaps his fingers and the actually injured pallum walks in with crutches and a sling for the broken arm and bandages wrapped around his head from being used as a hammer for Axel against the other Apollo familia members. Some more bandages on his cheeks, while the crutches shouldn't be in the picture as Axel didn't break his legs but the bandages on the off leg imply an injury there as well.
"Do you see the damages your child has wrought upon mine!!? You will have to pay the price for the offense" Apollo states as Raikou half kneels next to the Pallum who takes a step back but Raikou gently places her hand on his shoulder which causes him to break out in a sweat as that gentle touch is enough to lock him in place.
"There is indeed damage but shouldn't you pay the price for tormenting your own familia member" Her words make the audience speak in confusion as they don't understand. Raikou continues. Apollo is confused by her words as well.
"Look at him, so injured, his body in multiple casts yet you still had the gall to have him dress up for the party, let's see, one, two, three layers of clothing. All of them form fitting which means he would have had to straighten his poor broken arm to put his clothes on. Especially since I heard that the bones themselves were crushed. Poor boy" Raikou has a disheartened expression on her face as she seeks to 'comfort' the poor child, the audience themselves seem to realize the situation that the fight might have been exaggerated or at the very least not as intense. Others who are in the know are sure that this is all just a plot of Apollo and the child might not even be injured as Apollo does have enough money to have him healed which in itself is another plot hole for why the Pallum is still so heavily injured after an entire week after the fight.
Apollo grits his teeth as he can tell he is losing the empathy of the people, he feels like a fool right now.
On the other hand, the Pallum, Luan is pressed into Raikou's half exposed breasts due to her dress. His nose is tingled by her scent as he almost falls for his desires when a voice inside his own head is heard that brings him another chill and shakes his body due to fear. Others assume that the boy is crying within her embrace and fantasize what it's like to be held lovingly by such a beauty. Some hostility is directed at Axel who has unrestricted access to such a possibility.
As for the message that Luan received by Raikou who used an obscure form of telepath, "Listen here you little chicken shit runt. You try anything right now or tell our conversation to anyone later. I promise to shatter every bone in your body before crippling your very muscles until you end up as a broken hunchback. Any attempts to heal you will only result in more breaks and destruction. I shall allow you to live your life as such a cripple before I shred you into mincemeat to be fed to the countryside chickens and pigs which I would then drown, cook and then force feed to dungeon monsters even if it causes special monsters to show up and others die as a result….do not test me"
Luan is able to barely maintain his sanity under such a threat as he nearly pisses himself due to the intense localized killing intent that is covering his body akin to an aura skill except he only feels fear and dread. All the while, Raikou has a soft and caring expression and is constantly rubbing Luans back gently. In the end, his brain shuts down and he passes out. The Apollo Familia is forced to bring the unconscious Pallum away as Raikou gets up and looks to Apollo.
"Did you have anything else to say?"
"This changes nothing, the crime your child has committed is still true and thus I challenge you to a war game" Apollo proclaims and a wave of shock amongst the few younger gods and various children in attendance is heard.
The primary members of worry are Daisy and Welf but then after a moment they remember who is being challenged and then looks change to contempt as they also remember how the Apollo familias captain had already lost. This is visible as the very same person is not at the party even though he supposedly follows their god around like an ass sniffing dog.
Kaoruko frowns at the declaration but she is only a secondary member of the falna and thus shouldnt interfere. Senji in the distance is praying for the god in hopes that he survives. Shuten Douji has a bemused expression as she has naturally seen the expressions of both her own child, Daisy, as well as her teammate that she has seen around, Welf and how they both are calm and even dismissive of the challenge. She drinks the alcohol from her cup as she looks forward to a good show.
Raikou herself is borderline trembling in excitement as she is about to accept but then remembers her own plans that she has been putting into effect the past week. She stills herself and with a disdainful expression says,
"Daga Kotowaru" ("But I refuse").
Another shock goes through the crowd as they thought there would actually be a fight but unless both sides agree, then there is no war game. Axel himself is also shocked as he has witnessed the piles of paperwork on Raikou's desk, but if she declares no at this point then he can only assume that she has something else planned which brings her far more joy. War games were initially done as simple competitions but then some jealous god decided to use it maliciously, once the first event happened. All gods treated War games more seriously as money, property, familia members, and even their own lives could be forfeit in war games.
Apollo simply huffs and leaves as he cant do anything at the party as that would soil his reputation. The party continues on with some song and dance that Axel invites both Raikou and Kaoruko to. Even though there are festivities at the moment, there is an underlying tense atmosphere primarily caused by the Apollo familia members who are serving snacks and drinks. The party unfortunately ended earlier as the real Denatus commences. Axel and other true mortals are escorted out of the party.
Axel himself is still surrounded by his party members, the Take familia members and Bell Cranel who he is properly introduced to. Welf also reveals that Bell is the person who bought his armor but they were still level 1 then. Axel picks up on the 'were' and recognizes that Bell is also a fellow record breaker though his time is slower, nearly 2 months as he supposedly leveled up after buying the flame bolt ring from him and encountering a random infant dragon on the 8th floor. He was able to narrowly win with some injuries and qualified to attend the party.
While they are talking about levels, it's also revealed that Daisy had also leveled up after the Goliath fight but she felt that it was a shameful level up as she didn't really do much in that fight and just tried to escape. Somehow the pressure of the half black goliath forced her body to level up as she was able to get through her own fear which is the accomplishment she had done. She whispers that she had gotten a skill a week before they met the goliath that shot her stats up higher and she had roughly C grade stats when she reset. As someone who had already been adventuring for a year or two before teaming up with Axel, her growth is above average as most other adventurers take many more years to reach such stats.
Axel congratulates her but she reveals that she still wishes to continue working with him, with the topic of dungeoneering being shown, Welf once again sends the invite to Bell to join the party since he meets the requirements now. Bell accepts but he brings up the subject of his own supporter and Daisy says that she is willing to hand over that position to her as she wants to focus on her crossbow which she has gained a passion for.
The Take familia members also join the conversation about how they would work together in the dungeon. Axel and Welf go into detail about some of their combat abilities and general formations they work with.
While they are all chatting the Dentaus seems to end and the immortals/gods approach their respective familia members.
"Let's go home, 'Arc Valor' " Shuten Douji says to Daisy who is confused for a moment before realizing that is her new nickname and it's not a bad one so she happily follows her 'goddess' home, waving the others goodbye.
Hephaestus and Senji take Welf home as he had some growth but he didn't level up. They were just the escorts for Hephaestus to the party as the familia captain is managing the paperwork for Hephaestus.
Bell is taken away by his goddess who Axel learned was called Hestia, a cute lady but a bit weird. Though it's a weirdness that Axel can recognize as the goddess is infatuated with her own child. Though he did hear that their familia had expanded a bit to gain a few civilians inside in hopes of raising their magic stats while cleaning and what not. Though it will take them years of progress to raise the stat but they have their whole lives ahead of them. Axel overhears mention of little Rookie which he found cute while Bell became flustered over such a title.
Axel is left alone soon enough as Takemikazuchi takes his familia away. Though it's not long before Raikou and Kaoruko finally arrive. Raikou has an ecstatic expression while even Kaoruko has a soft smile on her face as the duo seem happy.
"What happened?" He asks inquisitively.
"You have a new title, your feats have earned you a prominent title that nobody else has gotten before. Titan." Raikou proclaims and Kaoruko nods as Axel is impressed, hugging them both before calling over the carriage to take them home. On the way, it is explained that his title arose due to his super strength with the sword as well as bestowal of mass magic items to the people of the city. The two feats combined either his previous tale of slaying the goliath gave him the nickname of Titan.
Axel drops off Kaoruko at her home and bids her goodnight before returning to their home. He finds that Syr is hovering around their home so after some idle chatter, the trio go home for some extracurricular activities.